Divine Scion

Many are the mortals who serve the gods, in small ways and large. Some give offerings to many divinities in hopes of appeasing them all, while others serve one faithfully and exclusively, even zealously. A few, however, are instead chosen by their deities to fulfill sacred missions. Some are merely graced with the anointing spirit of divinity, while a few are the literal scions of their divine patrons, by-blows of a dalliance with mortals. Whatever the source, these are the few who can, with the proper training, become divine scions. The spark of divinity animates their every deed, and voices whisper secrets and commands that were never meant for the ears of others. Divine scions may frustrate the orthodox hierarchy of their faith, as they represent an end-run around the ecclesiastical structures of the church. Their calling comes directly from their deity, and their orders supersede any earthly authority. Of course, many more claim such direct visitation and commission than actually have been touched by the divine, but it is risky to defy or deny any who claim it.

Class Details

Hit Die: d8.

Requirements

To qualify to become a divine scion, a character must fulfill all the following criteria:

Spells: When a divine scion gains a level, she gains new spells per day as if she had also gained a level in a divine spellcasting class she belonged to before she added the prestige class. She does not, however, gain any other benefits a character of that class would have gained. This essentially means that she adds the level of divine scion to the level of whatever other divine spellcasting class she has.

If the character had more than one divine spellcasting class before she became a divine scion, she must choose which class she adds each divine scion level to for the purposes of determining spells per day.

Domain Specialization (Su)

At 3rd level, a divine scion selects a domain granted by her deity—this domain becomes the divine scion’s chosen specialization in representing her deity. Although most divine scions pick domains that they’ve gained from other classes (such as cleric), they don’t have to do so. Every time a divine scion casts a domain spell from her specialized domain, she heals damage equal to twice the spell’s level.

In addition, each domain specialization grants a spell-like ability (which functions at a caster level equal to the divine scion’s total character level) and a permanent sacred bonus (or profane, if the divine scion is evil) on a single type of d20 roll.

Divine Wrath (Su)

At 4th level, a divine scion’s damaging spells deal +1 point of damage per die against creatures with an alignment subtype that matches the divine scion’s opposition alignment.

Deific Defense (Su)

At 7th level, a divine scion gains DR 2, bypassed by attacks with the alignment subtype of her opposition alignment (so a divine scion with “evil” as her opposition alignment gains DR 2/evil).

Divine Awe (Su)

At 8th level, a divine scion’s spells can stagger creatures that match the alignment subtypes of the divine scion’s opposition alignment. When such a creature is affected by a divine scion’s spell, it is staggered for 1 round if it fails its save against that spell. If the creature makes its save (or if the spell doesn’t allow a saving throw), this ability has no effect.

True Scion

At 10th level, a divine scion becomes a true scion of her deity. The amount of healing she gains from her domain specialization doubles. Her divine wrath ability now deals +2 points of damage per die against creatures of the appropriate alignment. The damage reduction granted by her deific defense increases to 5. Finally, she permanently increases her Wisdom or Charisma score (her choice) by +1.